Buchan Farmhouse and Snowy River

 

The Buchan Farmhouse

 A Scarlet Bottlebrush.

Oranges,  lemons, mandarins and grapefruit!

 The road to Snowy River.

 The farmhouse from the Snowy River Road.

The view of Lake Entrance from the lookout on the highway.

Sunday, November 27^th.

I woke up with the sun listening to the birds. It promised to be a beautiful warm, sunny day. I spent the morning eating oranges on the porch and looking at the views. I went for a couple of short walks on the property. Then I drove down the drive and turned the other direction to go to Snowy River National Park. It was on a narrow, gravel road and I had to drive through one flooded section, that descended off the top of the hills to the river. En Route there was a lookout where you could see the patchwork quilt of farms and forests on these foothills.

When I got there I found one man camping. I took the trail that led to the river and as I started I saw the tail end of a black snake disappear into long grass. I approached carefully but couldn't find it, so I continued down to the river. I was a pretty spot where the Snowy River and the Buchan River meet. Mary and Dennis had told me this was the local swimming spot, but I didn't go in, partly because there was a pretty good current. I walked around a couple of trails by the rivers conscious of the fact I had seen a snake. When I returned to the car and passed the spot where I had seen it, I found it basking in the sun on a grass patch close to where I had seen it (if in fact it was the same one). I got a couple of photos but kept my distance. When I researched it later on the internet I think I identified it as a Highland Cooperhead, which is another poisonous snake. When I got back to the camp I gave the camper the heads up that I had seen the snake in case he headed down that trail. He was appreciative as he is very snake wary.

When I got back I dropped in to say goodbye to Mary and Dennis and they let me pick a couple of bags of oranges, mandarins, lemons and grapefruit! I saw Mary's beautiful flower garden and Dennis' vegetable patch as well as his workshop where he makes animals out of spare auto parts. Good people.

I drove back to the farm house, packed up and then drove into Buchan and the Roadhouse to have brunch. I was really sad to leave. Of all the places I have visited this was probably my favourite, in that I would love to retire to a place like this, or to have been able to stay for a longer period of time. I loved the house, the views, the farm, the solitude and the nature of it. I do have to wonder what it would be like in the winter or for a period of rain (they get lots up here but apparently no snow). Anyway, it was only for the weekend.

In town after eating I bought a glass of lemonade and a couple of cupcakes from local students who were raising money for cancer research because one of their teachers has cancer.

Then I began the long drive back home again. Dennis recommended taking a slightly different route via Lake Entrance. The highway offers a beautiful view of the lake area along the south east coast of Australia. This is one of the vacation/holiday/boating/fishing areas of Victoria. I didn't stop as I will probably drive back through here on my way to Brisbane in a couple of weeks. I got back to Melbourne in time to have a swim at MSAC before heading home for the night.